The 1982 Minnesota Twins season was the 22nd season for the

Minnesota Twins The Minnesota Twins are an American professional baseball team based in Minneapolis. The Twins compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. The team is named afte ...

franchise in the

Twin Cities Twin cities are a special case of two neighboring cities or urban centres that grow into a single conurbation – or narrowly separated urban areas – over time. There are no formal criteria, but twin cities are generally comparable in stat ...

Minnesota Minnesota ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario to the north and east and by the U.S. states of Wisconsin to the east, Iowa to the so ...

, and the 82nd overall in the

American League The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the American League (AL), is the younger of two sports leagues, leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western L ...

. It was also the 1st season at

Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome The Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome (commonly called the Metrodome) was a domed sports stadium in downtown Minneapolis, Minnesota. It opened in 1982 as a replacement for Metropolitan Stadium, the former home of the National Football League's (NFL) ...

, which they would continue to play in until

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

. The team finished 60–102, seventh in the

American League West The American League West is one of Major League Baseball's six divisions. The division has five teams as of the 2013 season, but had four teams from 1994 to 2012, and had as many as seven teams before the 1994 realignment. Although its teams cu ...

. It was the first time the Twins lost more than 100 games since moving to Minnesota. This feat of more than 100 losses would be matched in 2016 and was surpassed by one game as that record was 59-103. Despite the Twins' new stadium, only 921,186 fans attended Twins games, the lowest total in the

Offseason

* October 23, 1981:

Mike Kinnunen Michael John Kinnunen (born April 1, 1958) is a former professional baseball pitcher. He pitched in parts of three seasons between and . He holds the major league record for most pitching appearances without a decision of any kind (win, loss or ...

was traded by the Twins to the

St. Louis Cardinals The St. Louis Cardinals are an American professional baseball team based in St. Louis. The Cardinals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Centra ...

for

Jeff Little Donald Jeffrey Little (born December 25, 1954) is a former Major League Baseball pitcher. Little played in two seasons: for the St. Louis Cardinals and for the Minnesota Twins The Minnesota Twins are an American professional baseball te ...

. * January 12, 1982:

Kirby Puckett Kirby Puckett (March 14, 1960 – March 6, 2006) was an American professional baseball player. He played his entire 12-year Major League Baseball (MLB) career for the Minnesota Twins (1984–1995). Puckett was instrumental in helping the Twins t ...

was drafted by the Twins in the 1st round (3rd pick) of the 1982 Major League Baseball draft.

Regular season

The

debuted with an April 3 exhibition game against the

Philadelphia Phillies The Philadelphia Phillies are an American professional baseball team based in Philadelphia. The Phillies compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East Division. Since 2004, the team's home stadium has ...

. Philadelphia's

Pete Rose Peter Edward Rose Sr. (April 14, 1941 – September 30, 2024), nicknamed "Charlie Hustle", was an American professional baseball player and manager. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1963 to 1986, most prominently as a member of ...

had the first unofficial Metrodome hit, and Minnesota's

Kent Hrbek Kent Alan Hrbek (; born May 21, 1960), nicknamed "Herbie", is an American former Major League Baseball first baseman. He played his entire 14-year baseball career with the Minnesota Twins (1981–1994). Hrbek batted left-handed and threw right-ha ...

homered twice. In the regular-season home opener, outfielder

Dave Engle Ralph David Engle (born November 30, 1956) is a former Major League Baseball utility player who played for the Minnesota Twins, Detroit Tigers and Milwaukee Brewers of the American League and the Montreal Expos of the National League from 1981 to ...

had the

Twins Twins are two offspring produced by the same pregnancy.MedicineNet > Definition of Twin Last Editorial Review: 19 June 2000 Twins can be either ''monozygotic'' ('identical'), meaning that they develop from one zygote, which splits and forms two e ...

' first hit and home run in the Metrodome.

Third baseman A third baseman, abbreviated 3B, is the player in baseball or softball whose responsibility is to defend the area nearest to third base — the third of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. In the Baseball scorekeep ...

Gary Gaetti Gary Joseph Gaetti (, ; born August 19, 1958), is an American former professional baseball third baseman. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Minnesota Twins (1981–1990), California Angels (1991–1993), Kansas City Royals (1993– ...

homered twice and was thrown out at home trying to stretch a triple for an

inside-the-park In baseball, an inside-the-park home run is a rare play in which a batter rounds all four bases for a home run without the baseball leaving the field of play. It is also known as an "inside-the-parker", "in-the-park home run", or "in-the-park hom ...

home run. The

Seattle Mariners The Seattle Mariners are an American professional baseball team based in Seattle. The Mariners compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League West, West Division. The team joined the American ...

beat the Twins 11-7. On May 29, for the only time in

history, a catcher nabbed four base stealers in a single game:

Sal Butera Salvatore Philip Butera (born September 25, 1952) is an American former professional baseball catcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1980 to 1988, for five different teams. He was a major-league scout for the Toronto Blue Jays dur ...

threw out

Ken Griffey George Kenneth Griffey Jr. (born November 21, 1969), nicknamed "Junior" and "the Kid", is an American former professional baseball outfielder who played 22 years in Major League Baseball (MLB). He spent most of his career with the Seattle Mari ...

Graig Nettles Graig Nettles (born August 20, 1944), nicknamed "Puff", is an American former Major League Baseball third baseman. During a 22-year baseball career, he played for the Minnesota Twins (1967–1969), Cleveland Indians (1970–1972), New York Yankee ...

Bobby Murcer Bobby Ray Murcer (May 20, 1946 – July 12, 2008) was an American professional baseball outfielder who played 17 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) between 1965 and 1983. He played the majority of his career for the New York Yankees, whom he ...

and

Willie Randolph William Larry Randolph (born July 6, 1954) is an American former professional baseball second baseman, coach, and manager. During an 18-year career in Major League Baseball (MLB), he played from 1975 to 1992 for six different teams, most notabl ...

of the

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Am ...

. Otherwise, May was not a good month as the Twins went 3-26, the worst major league month in baseball since the

Philadelphia Athletics The Philadelphia Athletics were a Major League Baseball team that played in Philadelphia from 1901 to 1954, when they moved to Kansas City, Missouri, and became the Kansas City Athletics. Following another move in 1967, they became the Oakland ...

posted a 2–28 record in June of

1916 Events Below, the events of the First World War have the "WWI" prefix. January * January 1 – The British Empire, British Royal Army Medical Corps carries out the first successful blood transfusion, using blood that has been stored ...

. The Twins record slide of fourteen consecutive losses ended with a June 4 shutout win over

Baltimore Baltimore is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland. With a population of 585,708 at the 2020 census and estimated at 568,271 in 2024, it is the 30th-most populous U.S. city. The Baltimore metropolitan area is the 20th-large ...

. Only one Twins player made the

All-Star Game An all-star game is an exhibition game that showcases the best players (the "stars") of a sports league. The exhibition is between two teams organized solely for the event, usually representing the league's teams based on region or division, bu ...

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

, first baseman

. On July 19, outfielder

Tom Brunansky Thomas Andrew Brunansky (born August 20, 1960), nicknamed "Bruno", is a former right fielder in Major League Baseball who played from 1981 to 1994 for the California Angels, Minnesota Twins, St. Louis Cardinals, Boston Red Sox, and Milwaukee Brew ...

hit what will be the Twins only inside-the-park

grand slam home run In baseball, a grand slam is a home run hit with all three bases occupied by baserunners ("bases loaded"), thereby scoring four runs—the most possible in one play. According to ''The Dickson Baseball Dictionary'', the term originated in the ...

, ever. Jerry Augustine of the

Milwaukee Brewers The Milwaukee Brewers are an American professional baseball team based in Milwaukee. The Brewers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central Di ...

threw the pitch. Pitcher

Terry Felton Terry Lane Felton (born October 29, 1957) is a former pitcher for the Minnesota Twins. Felton holds some of the most dubious pitching records in Major League Baseball, Major League Baseball (MLB) history, including the most consecutive losses to ...

– who'd gone 0-3 in 1980 – finished this season 0-13, and would not pitch in the majors again. His 0-16 career record is a major league record for futility.

Offense

hit .301 with 23 HR and 92 RBI. Gary Ward hit .289 with 28 HR and 91 RBI.

hit 25 HR and 84 RBI.

hit 20 HR and 46 RBI.

Pitching

Reliever Ron Davis had 22 saves.

Defense

Season standings

Record vs. opponents

Notable transactions

* March 26, 1982: Tim Corcoran was released by the Minnesota Twins. * April 10, 1982:

Roy Smalley III Roy Frederick Smalley III (born October 25, 1952) is an American former professional baseball shortstop who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1975 through 1987 for the Texas Rangers (1975–76), Minnesota Twins (1976–82; 1985–87), ...

was traded by the Twins to the

for Ron Davis, Greg Gagne and

Paul Boris Paul Stanley Boris (born December 13, 1955) is an American former Major League Baseball (MLB) pitcher. He played for the Minnesota Twins in 1982. Career Borris was signed by the New York Yankees as an amateur free agent in 1978. He played his fi ...

. * May 12, 1982: Doug Corbett and

Rob Wilfong Robert Donald Wilfong (born September 1, 1953) is an American professional baseball scout and a former Major League Baseball second baseman for the Minnesota Twins (1977–1982), California Angels (1982–1986), and San Francisco Giants (1987). H ...

were traded by the Twins to the

California Angels The Los Angeles Angels are an American professional baseball team based in the Greater Los Angeles area. The Angels compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West Division. Since 1966, the team has pl ...

for

Mike Walters Michael Charles Walters (born October 18, 1957) is a former Major League Baseball pitcher. He bats and throws right-handed. Walters was drafted by the California Angels in the 1st round of the 1977 amateur draft. He played in and with the Minn ...

, and $400,000. * May 12, 1982:

Butch Wynegar Harold Delano "Butch" Wynegar Jr. (born March 14, 1956) is an American former professional baseball catcher who played 13 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB). He played for the Minnesota Twins, New York Yankees and California Angels, and was a ...

and Roger Erickson were traded by the Twins to the

for

Larry Milbourne Lawrence William Milbourne (born February 14, 1951) is an American former professional baseball utility infielder whose career spanned 15 seasons, 11 of which were spent in Major League Baseball (MLB) with the Houston Astros (1974–76), Seattle ...

Pete Filson William Peter Filson (born September 28, 1958) is an American retired Major League Baseball pitcher. He played during seven seasons at the major league level for the Minnesota Twins, Chicago White Sox, New York Yankees, and Kansas City Royals. P ...

John Pacella John Lewis Pacella (born September 15, 1956) is an American former Major League Baseball pitcher. He became known for his unusual delivery that sometimes caused him to lose his cap after a pitch. Background Born in Brooklyn, New York, Pacella mo ...

and cash. * July 21, 1982:

Houston Jiménez Alfonso "Houston" Jiménez González (born 30 October 1957) is a Mexican former professional baseball shortstop and coach who is currently the third base coach for the Dorados de Chihuahua of the Mexican League. Jiménez played in Major League ...

was purchased by the Twins from the

Broncos de Reynosa Los Broncos de Reynosa (English: Reynosa Broncos) were a Mexican team that played in the Adolfo Lopez Mateos stadium in the city of Reynosa, Tamaulipas. The Broncos de Reynosa played in the Liga Mexicana de Beisbol and it was part of the Zona ...

Roster

Player stats

Batting

Starters by position

''Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in''

Other batters

Pitching

Starting pitchers

Other pitchers

Relief pitchers

Farm system

Notes

References

External links

Player stats from www.baseball-reference.comTeam info from www.baseball-almanac.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Minnesota Twins Season, 1982

1982 Events January * January 1 – In Malaysia and Singapore, clocks are adjusted to the same time zone, UTC+8 (GMT+8.00). * January 13 – Air Florida Flight 90 crashes shortly after takeoff into the 14th Street Bridge in Washington, D.C. ...

1982 Major League Baseball season 1982 in sports in Minnesota